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The company, most recognised for its localisation services, said revenue came in USD2.5 million lower than in the same period last year, but met its own guidance released earlier this month of revenue between USD25.0 million and USD25.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2001.
Nevertheless, some analysts had expected the company to report revenues as high USD29 million, and ahead of the release of its results on Tuesday the company's stock took a turn for the worst closing down 4.35 percent to USD3.30 in New York.
Lionbridge reported positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of USD119,000 for the quarter, marking the first positive EBITDA quarter since third quarter 2000.
Overall however, the company reported a net loss of USD3.6 million, or USD0.12 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2001 based on 31.2 million weighted average common shares outstanding. This too was worse than analysts' expectations of losses per share of USD0.11 although the losses were an improvement from Q4 2000 last year when Lionbridge reported a loss of USD5.1 million or USD0.19 per share.
On a "cash EPS" basis, the company reported a loss of USD0.05 per share for the fourth quarter of 2001, compared to a cash EPS loss of USD0.13 for the fourth quarter of 2000.
"The fourth quarter marked a significant milestone for the company," said Rory Cowan, chief executive officer of Lionbridge. "Not only did we exceed expectations with our first quarter of positive EBITDA this year, but we also returned gross margins to the 40 percent level."
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2001, the company's cash position was USD11.7 million, compared to USD10.1 million for third quarter 2001.
For the year ended 31 December 2001, Lionbridge reported total revenue of USD101.2 million, compared to revenues of USD115.1 million for the year ended 31 December 2000. The company had projected revenues in the range of USD100.0 to USD103.0 million for the fiscal year earlier in the month. The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of USD24.5 million, or USD0.83 per share, compared to USD23.8 million or USD0.96 per share, for the year ended 31 December.
"2001 was a year of challenge and uncertainty with major decline throughout the technology markets. However, due to a strong team and early focus on cost, Lionbridge weathered the downturn better than most, while continuing to execute on our path to profitability," said Cowan. "We expect 2002 to be a year of focus and execution, with estimated year-on-year revenue growth in the 20 percent to 25 percent range. Our pipeline appears strong and we have built a stable management team."
The localisation business suffered in the poor economic climate but the company was able to offset some of that downturn by expanding into new industry sectors with new customers in the pharmaceutical, financial services, manufacturing and defence industries. The VeriTest business unit of Lionbridge is also seeing increased demand and the company expects 2002 to be a year of focused growth.
In the middle of January the company also re-affirmed its previous financial guidance for fiscal year 2002, projecting fiscal year 2002 revenue between USD115.0 million and USD125.0 million.
Lionbridge Technologies provides solutions for worldwide deployment of technology and content to global 2000 companies in the technology, life sciences and financial services industries. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Lionbridge maintains facilities in Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, France, Germany, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Ireland, the company employs 105 at its Dublin facility and 80 people in Ballina, Co. Mayo.
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